LOTROnline chat with Jeffrey Steefel, 7/10/06, #TheHallofFire

jincey: Hi everyone!
jincey: i haven’t even had time to get up a speech (yay!)
lisa: Folks, so you know: the chat will be moderated once it begins, and you will not be able to chat, just to watch. Please submit any questions to one of the ops and we will do our best to fit as many as we can in
lisa: Also, so you know: this is a G rated chat, so please do not swear or get overly … overly 😉
lisa: hello people
lisa: yes yes, i do have those on alias now 😉
jincey: Today, TheOneRing.net is very pleased to present a chat with Turbine’s LOTRonline developer Jeffrey Steefel!
RingLeader: I am actually here – Jeffrey am I!
RingLeader: ‘wave
jincey: you’ll note the room has been moderated so you cannot speak
lisa: oh, it’s moderated already 😡
jincey: please direct any questions to myself, 409, JPB, lisa, or Seraph
jincey: We have a ton of questions already so please be patient
RingLeader: ::cracks knuckles:::
jincey: Jeffrey, would you like to say a few words before the questions begin?

RingLeader: Absolutely!
RingLeader: First of all, thanks so much to everyone for taking time out of their day to come and see us!
RingLeader: It’s quite overwhelming to see all of you
RingLeader: And very exciting to talk about our game to all of you!
RingLeader: I look forward to answering your questions where I can, and hopefully sharing a bit of my off the top excitement about LOTRO!
RingLeader: So off we go!
jincey: thank you so much for being here : )

jincey: Seraph asks: How are you handling quests and storylines. Inevitably these kinds of games have a story arc which all the players can participate in, so what direction are you taking this? Tell us more about the storyline? What kind of quests and missions will there be?
RingLeader: We have so many kinds of quests in the game
RingLeader: Under it all, we have woven an Epic Story that your are part of, that involves Angmar and the Witch-King
RingLeader And that story is wound up in the overall story of the WOTR
RingLeader: We have large, instanced quests that allow us to immerse you in characters and places, and a lot of fun drama
jincey: Can you please give just one example?
RingLeader: We have group and solo adventures, to carry and ferry items of value, visit far hidden places, aid NPCs, etc…
RingLeader: Sure…hmmm –
RingLeader: ::hoping patience does not hit hit with that bat::
Patience scrolls back with narrowed eyes.
RingLeader: We showed a quest at E3 that involved helping a Ranger retake wethertop from a group or Orcs, sent there By Sauruman
jincey: nice!
RingLeader: You have several objectives: Keep him alive, take back Weathertop, and discover some remnant shards of the stones that held the Palantir of Weathertop
RingLeader: On the other extreme, we have a quest in the Sire where you help the locals deal with pesky frogs run amuck
jincey: folks, Jeffrey will NOT answer your PM’s, so please stop pestering him ; )
RingLeader: Or a quest to deliver pies to a neighboring town w/o getting it nabbed by a passing hungry hobbit 🙂
RingLeader: As examples…
RingLeader: OK, next question?

seraph: Well Jeffrey, I see you just mentioned Saruman back there
seraph: Furious5k asks: Can we expect to see only a portion of the cannon characters from Lord of the Rings or will we, with a bit of looking around, be able to find all or most of them in the game?
RingLeader: And misspelled him as well ::blush:::
RingLeader: I am a notorious bad typist
Four-O-Nine: welcome to the fold RingLeader
RingLeader: Well, you will see a great deal of the characters you would expect to find in Eriador
RingLeader: And some that have traveled into the area
RingLeader: Certainly the Fellowship, and many of the folks you might expect like Bombadil, Farmer Maggot, Barliman, Black Riders…
RingLeader: Sharkey and his men
RingLeader: I could go on and on, but suffice it to say you won’t feel lonely for your favorite characters…
jincey: ents? will there be ents?
RingLeader: At the appropriate point we will have ents, yes…
lisa: that’s jincey’s question 😉
RingLeader: In the old forest, you’ll also encounter the Huorn, living trees that are also a bit of a handful!
RingLeader: Yes, we will – I am not sure if we’ve posted the concepts of the Ents yet – but they are waaaay cool!

JPB: Keebs asks: Will most zones feature a SWG-esk sandbox style where you can walk everywhere, or the usual hill-as-walls maze style?
RingLeader: The basic goal is for this to be a real world for you – you can walk as far as the eye can see
RingLeader: Of course, there are some areas that will be naturally impassable
RingLeader: no mazes tho 🙂

jincey: Vincen has a question about the Crafting system: Is there anything defining about the crafting system as of yet? Will crafting have a big part of the community, or will it really take a back seat to most gameplay?
RingLeader: Not a back seat at all – we’re very excited about crafting
RingLeader: While it will not be a class in of itself, Crafting will offer 9 professions
RingLeader : You will have the harvesting, refining, and creaton that you would expect
RingLeader: And many many kinds of recipes that draw on ingredients, some common, some rare
RingLeader: Then, you can move on to “Mastery” of your craft, and then you will have the ability to add special ingredients and increase your chance of creating rare items
RingLeader: So crafting, like many things in LoTRO, has an easy path and a mastery path
RingLeader: We want it to be fun for more casual players, as well as the hard-core…
seraph: That’s good to hear, we’ve already had several ask us what the game will be like for folks new to gaming.
RingLeader: Fun, fun fun!

seraph: Our next question:
seraph: [KODA]_Decay asks: What kind of musical score is in the game? Who is the composser? And how will the background music change through out different zones of the game, will the music be on a continuous loop, or will it become more interleaved into what actions you are performing at the time?
seraph: Kind of a large question, but you can see where he’s going with this.
RingLeader: We have an amazing in-house audio group that does our SFX and much of the music. Several of them are accomplished, professional musicians in their own right
RingLeader: The music in the game will follow themes, some based on the overall LoTRO theme, some related to location, and some related to the events unfolding at a particular time
RingLeader: The music also responds to combat and other dynamic events.
seraph: Along that same vein, can we expect to hear any of Howard Shore’s themes in the score?
RingLeader: We have our own audio systems that we have been developing for years and allow us a lot of layering and flexibility
RingLeader: No music from Mr. Shore…:)

jincey: Ceilidh asks: What general principles of the game economy can you share with us?
RingLeader: Wow, now that’s a small question 🙂
RingLeader: Well, where to start…obviously, as in any online world, the economy is important and complex…
RingLeader: We ant the players to be able to participate easily, but still have a system we can monitor and manage so as to protect the player experience
RingLeader: Some basics: We have gold, we have vendors, we have secure trades
RingLeader: We also have actions and probably the ability to trade/sell items through in-game mail
RingLeader: As we have crafting, we have harvesting nodes throughout the game that we will need to balance continuously
RingLeader: In terms of general principles, we will launch with a basic infrastructure and set of systems…
RingLeader: Then we’ll watch what you all do with it and do our best to help continue to manage a healthy economy….

jincey: Vincen asks a follow-up: What steps will LOTRO take to battle gold sellers who profit in RL from virtual currency trades. Recently they have becoming more and more, and ruining games for all players.(important question with economy)
RingLeader: We’re very aware of how big an issue this has become in the MMO space.
RingLeader: We certainly do not condone this behavior in any of our games
RingLeader: There is no iron-clad way to completely control this abuse w/o making the actual game environment too restrictive to be fun for everyone else
RingLeader: That said, we have increasingly robust tools, teams and processes to try and ferret out the worst offenders
RingLeader: Who we then ban from the game, as we currently do with Ac and DDO
jincey: that’s good
seraph: definitely a good thing to hear.
jincey: ready for next?
RingLeader: You bet!

jincey: odinseye asks: Can you tell us any of the proposed mechanics that you will be implementing for kinships or kinship leaders to make the kinship experience more entertaining or enriching? Also, have you been able to come to a conclusion on whether or not kinship halls will be in game at release?
RingLeader: Kinship tools will begin with the basics – you can create a Kinship, invite members, manage memberships, and there will be loot sharing mechanics
RingLeader: We are not currently planning Kinship Housing for launch, but this remains something we’d love to see happen ASAP.
RingLeader: Kinships play a bigger and bigger part in our Elder Game, so the functionality will continue to expand over time
RingLeader: So it is not a question of if, but when
RingLeader: We are also working on raids which will be a blast for kinships

jincey: We’ve had *several* folks ask how PVP will be integrated. What can players expect from the PVP system, when and where will PVP be available? Please give us all the details!
RingLeader: LOL…all the details 🙂
jincey: a few?
RingLeader: The bat will connect if I do 🙂
jincey: one or two?
RingLeader: heheh
jincey: lol
Patience: Just want to jump in here for a second 🙂
Patience: We’ll be releasing more information on raids soon. One of our developers is working on an article for the website giving more detail.
RingLeader: Patience is trying to say that I almost blew her big story…
lisa: lol oops 😉
Patience lol
Patience: I’ll get him back for it later. 😉 Carry on!
jincey: lol
RingLeader: OK
RingLeader: So…what was the question? Ah yes, PVP…:)
RingLeader: Seriously guys, we’re not trying to make you all crazy
RingLeader: PVP is such a hot button issue we want to make sure we are crystal clear about all the details when we are ready
RingLeader: The system will begin at launch, and then expand from there
RingLeader: It will allow players to fight each other, but within a mechanic that is respectful to the IP, and makes sense in Middle-earth
RingLeader: There will be roles to play for High-level players, newer players, and for Kinships…
RingLeader: As much as I know you will now all hate me – that’s all I can say for now 🙁
seraph: That’s good to hear. A lot of people (myself included!) are very interested in the PVP aspect and enjoy it about MMO’s.
RingLeader: But it’s gonna be COOOOL!
RingLeader: Me 2
jincey: you have folks gnashing their teeth ; )
RingLeader: :::hides:::

jincey: Arvi0n asks will the kinships we able to have “war” against each other? And will they be able to forge in-game alliances
RingLeader : Kinships will be involved in the Conflicts – but this is something that will have to be left in shadow for now… sorry
lisa: ok

lisa: Goblin asks: What is your favorite aspect of this game?
RingLeader: Oh man, I only get One???
lisa laughs
lisa: well, take a stab
RingLeader: Hmmmm….
lisa: We’ve stumped you 🙂
RingLeader: I have to say that playing an MMO with all the cool stuff I love about MMOs, but in MIDDLE-EARTH, and in service of people and struggles I read about as a kid, is really cool!
lisa: so nostalgia 😉
RingLeader: I love participating in the richness and variety of the adventure we’re making
seraph: If it helps to clarify any, we’ve had several already ask what sets LOTRO apart from other MMO’s?
RingLeader: In some ways, but more like nostalgia as wrapper for real fun gaming
lisa: I see… setting the imagination to life
RingLeader: Part of it, yes
RingLeader: So at 1000k feet, what sets it apart is that it immerses you in a deep, rich world, and one that you know already!

seraph: Next question, one we’ve been seeing a LOT so far…
seraph: For as many people curious about PVP and Crafting, EVERYONE wants to know when we can expect to see the Beta open up! Can you give us a hint when we can look forward to dipping our toes in LOTRO?
RingLeader: And it is a mature, next-gen MMO that is really accessible to all kinds of players.
RingLeader: Beta will most likely start late summer, though we have not set the start time yet, as we want to make sure we are incorporating what we are learning from our Alpha
RingLeader: Rest assured, Meghan and team will be feeding you all info about Beta often!
Patience is Meghan for those who don’t know. 🙂

Four-O-Nine: Link5935 asks: What happens when you are defeated? Do you instantly go to a nearby town, or do you lie on the ground for a bit so you can be “revived”, or how the process of being defeated will work? In other words, can you give us any more details on how reviving characters from a defeated state will work?
RingLeader: For now, we have opted to keep the defeat mechanic very very simple.
RingLeader: Upon defeat, you are sent to a “place of safety” (nearby spawn point) and you need to rejoin your adventure from there.
RingLeader: The penalty is fairly low, which we think is a good thing
RingLeader: That said, we have the capability to do many other things, and depending on what we learn during Beta, we’ll make any needed changes.

lisa: Goblin wants to know how long the game has been in development
RingLeader: Turbine began developing the game at the beginning of 2003, and we have been developing it as a self-publisher from Jan 2004….

jincey: Criterium asks: How will naming policy be handled? Will there be a filter to prevent people naming their characters with offensive names etc? And also will people be able to use special characters not usually used in names such as !#$ and use capslock?
RingLeader: We will have a banned names list as well as bad word filtering
RingLeader: We will most likely restrict many special characters for the same reasons other games do

jincey: Furious5k asks: Have you decided how you will deal with the presumably large numbers of players who will want to use the canonical character names (eg. Aragorn or Strider). Will you disallow them and all close Approximations (i.e. Arag0rn)?
RingLeader: As of this time, we will not be allowing players to use the iconic Tolkien names for their Avatar name
jincey: oh wow
jincey: that should cause consternation

seraph: well Jeffrey, I haven’t seen anyone ask this yet, but I’m curious
seraph: What sort of high-end graphics options will be available to gamers with the latest hardware, and conversely, what about gamers that DON’T have the latest gear? For those of us with aging computers, should we expect to need to upgrade?
RingLeader: Well, you can imagine the potential issues if we have multiple “Aragorn”‘s running around
RingLeader: As you encounter them in the world as NPCs that have vital info and items, this could be a major griefing opp
RingLeader: Turbine has a well-evolved graphics engine that supports many levels of quality
RingLeader: While you will get the most stunning graphics at the highest level, there are many lower levels of detail that yield very nice effect as well
RingLeader: The engine scales everything: Textures, rendering settings, shadows, reflections, LOD, etc… based on the setting you choose
RingLeader: And you do not need the latest rocket to play at the highest levels
RingLeader: I purposely have a machine at home with a GEFORCE 4400 that I play on to make sure I can still ahve a great experience on a lower-end machine….
RingLeader: Rest assured that we want to make sure a wide audience can enjoy LoTRO

jincey: Irondur asks: Will there be RP servers?
RingLeader: We have not yet determined if we will maintain separate-focus shards…this is still in discussion…

jincey: Eorlingas wants to know: How many different places can we see in the game?
RingLeader: Wow – there are so many….
jincey: and a follow-up Gilmacar asks: I would like to know how far north and south the game will go.
RingLeader: OK, first
RingLeader: So you’ll be able to visit BIG places like Rivendell, The Shire (including all the towns you remember), Midgewater Marshes, Misty Mountains….
RingLeader: Smaller areas like Weathertop, The Old FOrest, Maggot’s Farm, Bombadil’s House…
RingLeader: Thorin’s Halls, Angmar….
jincey: Staddle?
RingLeader: And lots of places that will be new to you….
RingLeader: Staddle
RingLeader: Hobbiton
RingLeader: Brandywine Bridge
RingLeader: Prancing Pony
RingLeader: Estledin
RingLeader: Bilbo’s Stone Trools
RingLeader: Trools
RingLeader: Trolls
RingLeader: arghhhh
jincey: anything beyond mordor? to the farthest east?
lisa: trools 🙂
lisa: i like those
RingLeader: I could go on and on
RingLeader: As for the size of the world, we are covering much of Eriador….dozens of SQ KM

Four-O-Nine: Furious5k, Guest2 and several others have asked: Are there plans for any expansions that offer the chance to play “the other side of the story” i.e. “the evil characters” (orcs, trolls, easterlings, etc)?
RingLeader: :::wry smile:::
RingLeader: Let’s just say that we dream of that often….
RingLeader: I swaer that with these few things, like this and PvP, we won’t be coy much longer
RingLeader: Clearly, the battle between good and evil is central to LOTR, and we all want to participate in all of it!
Four-O-Nine: gotcha 😉

jincey: Seriadaco asks a fun question: Will there be fishing in LotRO?
RingLeader: We hope so…there are a boatload of mini-games we have in mind – it will simply depend on time…
RingLeader: IMHO, the further we get after launch, the more social activities the community will want…this is a natural evolution as we all get to know the world….

lisa: i have one question
lisa: that’s surreal
lisa: so I’m going to ask it
lisa: TristramHaven asks: Will Hobbits in Middle-Earth drink tea or coffee?
lisa: It’s a brain teaser, I’m sure
lisa: TristramHaven asks: Will Hobbits in Middle-Earth drink tea or coffee?
RingLeader: The libations available are still being worked out….
lisa: Good answer 😉
RingLeader : ::bows deeply::

jincey: Lomen asks: When items degrade can they be fixed? If so is there a limit to the durability, a point where it can no longer be repaired?
RingLeader: Items degrade and can be repaired. Right now, they do not become totally unusable, but after time, it may be better to get a new one 🙂
RingLeader: This is also the kind of this we will tune during Beta

jincey: Paintballer1305 asks: What kind of support will the development team give to members of the community who run player events?
RingLeader: Interesting question
RingLeader: We love our players who take on these kinds of roles in the community and we want to help wherever we can
RingLeader: We’re building a sizable Community team in-house that will be here to work with the community
RingLeader: We’re making sure we have some tools for players, like multi-group management, and Kinships that will help
RingLeader: And I imagine of dev cycles themselves will one day be influenced by what players are doing in our game

Four-O-Nine: Chumbar asks: Can you explain more about travel and how it will work?
RingLeader: Travel is easy – you walk! 🙂
RingLeader: Seriously, we have fast travel in the game, which will be a series of horse stables that you can use as nodes in our travel network
RingLeader: You will be able to travel fast to any place you have previously reached
RingLeader: Clearly, exploring is fun, in-game marathons are not 🙂
jincey: next?
RingLeader: Yuppers 🙂

jincey: Truesilver asks: On the subject of instancing, various sources say 10% – 20% of the world will in fact be instanced; If I wanted to group with another player would they have to be at exactly the same point in all the quests that I am, or what?
RingLeader: Not at all…
RingLeader: There are certainly some instanced quests (minority) that require you to be a certain level to enter them
RingLeader: But in many cases, you simply “follow the leader”
RingLeader: There are a VERY few “world-changing” instances that you may have heard about that will require you to all be at the same “story-level” but these are few and far in between
RingLeader: And designed to not happen to players that are far apart in level

jincey: calibur asks Can you elaborate on Lineage and how it works?
RingLeader: Ah, Lineage…
RingLeader: We are still determining how much actual impact your lineage will have to gameply. After you select your race, you can select your Lineage (Brandybuck/Took, etc…)
RingLeader: This will impact some of your character appearance choices during chargen
RingLeader: We originally had the idea of having lineage impact gameplay, but this seemed in practice to be a bit problematic as it means choosing yet another thing about you in the beginning you have to deal with forever
RingLeader: There may be some specific adventures/trials that you experience as a result of your lineage – TBD
jincey: ahh ok

jincey: Squall[CHeM] and others have asked about the cost. What will the pricing scheme for LOTRO be? retail version, monthly fee, additional fees, etc….
RingLeader: We are not yet set on the pricing model(s) for LOTRO
RingLeader: There is much afoot in the industry surrounding these issues, and we are wathcin like all the other companies to see how things evolve
RingLeader: Whatever we decide, it will be driven by what we believe is the best possible solution for a healthy, growing and evolving franchise
jincey: so when is target date for this to hit?
RingLeader: We’re not talking publicly about ship date yet
jincey: ballpark?
jincey: this year or next?
RingLeader: The bottom line is that I have support for us making sure we ship a rock solid AAA game
jincey: that we can all understand

jincey: ok folks, i know we didn’t get to half of the questions, but we’ll send them to jeffrey to answer later for posting here at torn
RingLeader: ::had to duck deep to avoid Meghan’s bat:::
jincey: LOL
RingLeader: I would love to see them!
Patience hides it behind her back.
RingLeader: ROFL
jincey: we are going to open the floor for everyone but first
jincey: I must thank Jeffrey and patience for coming in today
lisa: Thank you very much!
RingLeader: Thanks so much for inviting us!
jincey: and i have to thank all the folks who came to see this
jincey: and the mods who were sweating behind the scenes taking the q’s ; )
jincey: lol
samgamgee7: Thank you indeed…..sounds to me like we have some quality on the way, thank you both for sharing your time with us today 🙂
jincey: thank y’all so much for coming and the game is looking great : )
jincey sets mode: -m

and mayhem ensued: ; )

TucksMa: Are Silvan Elves really starting in Rivendell, why so far East and why at what is so widely considered a safe haven not a newbie zone? If Hobbits DO start in Breeland… why there instead of the Shire? and if so, what is the reasoning behind it? Can you confirm each races’ starting position please?
Beazel: When you say *late* summer, can you give us a rough estimate of what month? Summer can be considered a wide range of things.
RingLeader : Thanks
Heden: Why all the competitions if beta is still potentially 2 months away
Sywyn: Raids whats the deal? I thought there was no plans for it?
Lomen: Great interview!! thx Jeff!
Chumbar: Please tell us about character customization please!
jincey: have at it!
Ferodex: woa
Beazel: LOL
TurtlesOnAPlane: woooooooooo
Kiras thanks!
Myanmirt: omg lame
lisa: Please folks, be polite and no swearing!!!
Tekrel: thanks from all french people who are waiting LOTRO !
Dovad: sPAM FTW?
Grim_Stronghand: to offset the very bad news of kinship housing, how about something positive!
Beazel: I beat you all, hehe.
Mock0: hehe
kaedreq: will this session be copied for all to see later?
Link5935: You didn’t ask my question!!! 🙁
[ED]DeBarlo: How much will players be able to influence the game environment on a global scale? Will our actions greatly influence the world?
Gh057: thx for the interview
lisa: kaedreq: yes
russiangoblin: lol can PPL under 18 play in beta?????????//
Thojorkill: Run Jeff run!!!
Myanmirt: ths is lame now i cant read anything it just keeps scrolling up
Bob: BOOM!
Chumbar: PLAYER HOUSING CAHARCTER CUSTOMIZATON
Drewster2007: This isnt going to get you guys any where
TurtlesOnAPlane: i’m freeeeeee i’m freeee
Mock0: hehe
Squirrl: Great job *Salutes* I learned a lot from this.. thank you 🙂
jincey: yes this is logged and will be posted
Romandil1: Thanks! It was very interesting!
CandidQuality: Thanks for staying up till 7 just to answer a few questions for us. it is truly appreciated. lol…..read fast jeff
odinseye: lol gnight all!
Bob: Thank you both 😀
Sywyn was actually quite disapointed
Arvi0n: serrious… lol this is like spam :s
Dovad: I just want my pvp!
lisa: 7 No shouting or swearing please, or we’ll have to be mean, and I don’t want to be mean 🙂
Mock0: ok
Mock0: 😀
Eldyana: If there is time, I would love to know if PvP is going to be optional?
Drego_Fein: Thanks for the interview guys 🙂
Talon: Thanks Jeffrey and Patience!
Squirrl: Thanks a lot 🙂
Vladomir: Thanks
Phiz: thanx to both of you for putting up with all the questions thrown at you
Arandur_Erynion: 4Is there going to be a good place for roleplay?! It’s an important aspect of this title…
RingLeader: PvP will ALWAYS be consensual only!!!
Chumbar: CHARACHTER CUSTOMIZATION
russiangoblin: will players under 18 be able to join beta????
TucksMa: Are Silvan Elves really starting in Rivendell, why so far East and why at what is so widely considered a safe haven not a newbie zone? If Hobbits DO start in Breeland… why there instead of the Shire? and if so, what is the reasoning behind it? Can you confirm each races’ starting position please?
Guest2: Captains FTW!
asdfasf: Jeffrey “cares” :)))
nojjer: how are you guys handling greater lineage on weapons and armor?
Patience: You’re welcome guys 🙂
Myanmirt wants to ask if it will be a 06 or 07 release?
Gh057: Will Moria be included in the first release?
Mock0: I just wanted to know real fast about the player housing
Drewster2007: Thanks!
Bob: Endyana, that question has already be answered, PvP is stated to be entirely consensual.
RingLeader: Hobbits/Men in Breeland
Eldyana: Thank you 😉
kaedreq: will the skill leveling of each type of profession be somewhat similar to ac1?
RingLeader: Elves/Dwarves in Ered Luin
TucksMa: no player housing at release
Vincen: thank you Patience, RingLeader!
Talon: RingLeader: The single most important question out there… Will there be different colored squirrels in the game?
Celuial: Are there really going to be thousands of Silvan Elves in Eriador while most in the lore are in Rhovanion?
Tekrel: i just hopes that the game (and the players ! ) will respect le soul of the world of Tolkien. But all i’ve heard here seems to be good !
Bob: Lol Talon
sparkz: Question: will the GUI be configurable?
Mock0: haha
WW-KuddZ^^: Lol talon
samgamgee7: must be off, thank you RingLeader and Patience :))
Rudnoc: Can you have it in the settings to auto ignore a PvP request so it isn’t spammed at you?
RingLeader: Only Red ones, Talon 🙂
TurtlesOnAPlane: Will you have a pub like barlimans? so we can hang out and chat like we do in here? 😀
Arandur_Erynion: Is there going to be a good place for roleplay?! It’s an important aspect of this title…
Kak: How long will it take friends from different races to meet up with each other after starting at different locations?
Mock0: blue is cool
Furious5k: My sincerest condolences to you, RingLeader. The crowd has gone out of control.
TucksMa: Elves in Ered Luin????
asdfasf: RingLeader how big will game be in megabytes ?
Amrac: I would love to hear Jeffrey’s personal thoughts on the topic of RP servers, if he’s still there and ready for some answers 😉
Azzie: When dieing in an instance will you need to re enter the instance from a spawn point outside the instance or will there be a spawn point inside the instance
Erethrandir: thanks again RingLeader and Patience
[Sars]virushot: i missed most of it any news on ALCHEMY?
RingLeader: Barliman is in Prancing Pony, yes
Keebs: What about Dwarf Women, RingLeader?
TurtlesOnAPlane: thanks 😀
jincey: dwarf wimmen lol
[KODA]_Decay: keebs dont start with that
Jibbon: @RingLeader: …will there be any types of item binding !?
TurtlesOnAPlane: jincey i’ll get the game if you get it
Keebs: It’s important!
lisa: there arreeeeeee nooo dwarf wimmen!
TurtlesOnAPlane: 😀
Dovad: pvp :
Link5935: Will the Hobbits starting quest involve Staddle, and Elves in Ered Luin?
TurtlesOnAPlane: we can hang out in there
jincey: lol
Gh057: of course there are dwarf women
asdfasf: lisa is dwarf wimmen :))
Mock0: can hobbits run fast?
asdfasf: j/k
[KODA]_Decay: it is not important and has been discussed many times over
Goblin: lisa is griffen
Gh057: lol…yeah
lisa: hush, you 😉
asdfasf: please dont kill me
asdfasf: :))
TurtlesOnAPlane: do dwarf wimmen have beards?
lisa flaps her wing
asdfasf: haha
ThePoster: …
Mock0: of course dwarf wimmen have beards
Kak: How long will it take friends from different races to meet up with each other after starting at different locations?
Miro: Will the Economy be mainly player-driven, or not?
Zoue: Big thanks Jeff and Meghan for taking the extra time out of the busy schedules and after work hours at that to come chat!
Gh057: does that make lisa the game’s fedEX?
rovikPVP: 🙂
Eldyana: Will the base models of character be respectably dressed, to avoid the, um, “Dirty Dancing” that is going on in even some of the populor mmo’s?
[Sars]virushot: Alchemy anyone is it in???
Patience: Thanks Zoue 🙂 And thanks for coming!
Chuck_Norris: this is insane
Eldyana: (Sry about spelling)
Mock0: this is not as much spam as I thought 😀
RingLeader: People will meet up with each other quickly
nojjer: how are you guys handling greater lineage on weapons and armor?
Gh057: if there’s 9 skills its probably in
Dolnor: Jeffrey, can you say what industry/fan events that LOTRO will be demo-ed at this year?
sparkz: Question: will the GUI be configurable?
Gota: its like reading the number plates on cars on the highway
Annolennar: How will the abilities of classes, particularly special ones like Minstrel and Loremaster, outside of combat, have significant effect on gameplay socially and in the “world” of the game? In other words, how will a Minstrel ‘feel’ like a Minstrel?
[IG]Thurin: boo at no kinship housing at release ::(
Mock0: RINGLEADER YOU NEED TO VIST US ON THE FORUMS sorry for caps
Bob: Doesn’t mean you need to spam more to compensate Mock0
Goblin: RingLeader person what money is in the game ?? is it gold coins or is it silver coins or is it spoons ??
Chuck_Norris: you guys seriously can’t expect him to answer any of your questions under these circumstances
Kak: What will the centerpoint be where all races finally meet up?
Link5935: Mr. Steefel, You said the Elves will be starting in Ered Luin? And will the Hobbits starting quest involve staddle
warefare: Is there going to be an anti-cheat tool and will farmers get banned and NOT supported ?
Cindy: I heard there will be a transcript of the chat posted later.
CandidQuality: OK. now you have a reason to be scared 😉
lisa: cindy: yes
Heden: Why all the competitions if beta is still potentially 2 months away
[Sars]virushot: alchemy… lol nvm
Gh057: I think he left you can stop spamming now
Dovad: lisa – where?
RingLeader: :::EYES ROLLING BACK IN HIS HEAD, RINGLEADER VANISHES IN A PUFF OF SMOKE::
RingLeader has quit IRC (Quit: )
lisa: ok, folks, thanks again 🙂